Corona virus- The facts to stack the odds in YOUR favour
So much of our daily lives have now been impacted by this new infection. Never before have we seen such a tornado of information making us confused and fearful. In the detail below I’ll try to sort the fact from the fiction and give us all the ability to overcome that fear and STACK THE ODDS IN OUR FAVOUR against the dreaded Corona virus. Illness like cancer bring extra worry — I’ll give some hand hints for those with extra health worries.
Firstly, I’ve been asked a few questions about things to do and various myths etc. So let me start there (you’re probably a bit sick of the background at this stage so I’ll leave that for later in this piece).
Common questions
Does it matter what soap I use?
No, any common or garden soap (plus water) will do. Fancy “antibacterial” soaps are no better or worse than normal soap, liquid or bar is fine. Washup liquid is equally good too. The soap has to be
diluted in water to work. Try to lather and not leave the tap running. Don’t scald yourself, hot water won’t make a difference and could mean you don’t wash thoroughly. Alcohol–based hand washes are fine too but don’t go making your own, it might not work and could harm your skin.
Special cleaning products are expensive and hard to get- what can I do?.
Soap products, eg bar or liquid soap, wash up liquid etc will remain readily available in shops. Own brand, cheap soaps are as good as any fancy brand labels. You don’t need to use too much but soap does need to be diluted in water to work. You can easily make effective wipes by using cheap household spray cleaners or plain old soap and water and wiping with kitchen roll (or all that spare toilet roll you ran out to buy), it is that easy.
How long can the virus last on surfaces?
This depends on lots of different things — the type of surface, temperature, how many droplets etc have been deposited. Broadly speaking the virus can last for several hours up to a day or so on most common surfaces. For most public situations, this means that we have to assume they could be coated in virus droplets. Its therefore best to wash hands after contact with public surfaces or those shared with others who could be sick and to wipe down common surfaces with household products safe for those surfaces.
Can I get out and about?
Absolutely once you practice social distancing (keeping 2m away from people), as your own health allows, staying active is very important formind and body. Its spring time, if you have one, maybe think of get the garden ready for the summer that lies ahead. Once you practice personal distancing, going for walks or drives outside is to be encouraged.
What can I use to wipe down surfaces?
Different surfaces may react to different cleaners in different ways and could be damaged so follow manufacturers instructions. Soapy water and a piece of kitchen roll works well for many surfaces. There are many different types of wipes that can be used. Cheap own/label household cleaners and sprays are fine- no need to overdo these but do give them time to contact the surface and kill any bugs. Hazardous chemicals like bleach need to be kept for where they can be used, eg, in the toilet.
Do I need to clean my groceries?
Most fruits, veg, bread , meat etc come in wrapping. The contents in the wrappers is prepared in a clean environment and is safe to use. If you worry that an outside wrapper might be contaminated, simply open it up, throw away the wrapper as normal and wash your hands after — nice and simple. If there were any bugs on the wrapper, they’re now in the bin with the wrapper and you cleaned any that might have been passed onto your hands by washing them. Remember the contents of fruits like oranges and bananas are already wrapped and come clean from nature. Cooking, boiling and baking will kill Coronavirus on any foods.
Do I need to wear a mask?
No, many types of international research have shown that masks available to the public don’t seem to really stop people getting infected. If you are infected, they may reduce your chances of passing it to another person but need to be fitted properly. Lets try and leave the masks for hospital use where they might make a difference to stop infected people passing the infection to others.
Do I need to wear medical/latex gloves?
Hand washing is a proven and easy way to disinfect the hands, no matter how we might be exposed. Gloves can as easily pick up virus droplet as our hands and if we shake hands with gloves on or touch our face with gloves, we can just as easily pass on infection. Gloves can give a completely false sense of security
What should I do if I feel sick?
Firstly, try not to worry. There are still lots of other bugs out there and it could as easily be one of these as Corona virus. It is very common for cancer patients to get symptoms of illness, various pains, aches etc. You do need to be careful though and get medical advice. Doctors are still treating people for all the different ailments that affect us. Thanks to the dedication of everyone in our health service, our hospitals are still treating people with all kinds of illness. If you’re being treated for cancer, make contact on your liaison phone number. If you are not actively being treated for an illness, make contact with your GP or out of house GP service. You need to isolate yourself from others, especially if they are older or have health conditions, if you show any signs of corona virus infection.
Where can I get information or help?
There are great, factual resources from the HSE in Ireland. Visit their website on https://www2.hse.ie/coronavirus/ or follow them on various social media platforms.
The HSE have a phone number for queries 1850 24 1850 or 041 6850300
For those impacted by cancer, their friends and families, phone support is available on 1800 200 700 through the cancernurseline@irishcancer.ie email or on our website cancer.ie
Other charities and organisations also have information on their websites and dedicated phone numbers
- 0818 222 024
The Samaritans — Ireland
- 116 123
- 1800 80 48 48
- 1850 241 850
- 01 248 1398 / 1890 800 024
The Gardaí are providing huge support at local level, simply ring your local Garda station.
Now to some of the facts stuff
What is it?
Corona virus (COVID-19) is a bug or virus that in some people can cause them to feel like they have a flu which can progress to life threatening breathing difficulties.
As shown below, while everyone, including children can get the infection, people being treated for several health conditions, including heart circulation & blood pressure issues, cancer and older people are at a much higher risk of ending up in hospital and having life threatening complications that the rest of the population.
How is it caught?
Like flu, colds vomiting bug and lots of other nasties, Corona virus is spread from person to person by droplets. Our skin is an amazing barrier against disease but if we either inhale droplets of virus or pass them from our hands into our body through our hands touching our mouth, nose or eyes it can get into our body and make us sick. Once inside, the virus makes trillions of copies of itself in our lungs and coughing, sneezing or being very close to another person can pass the infection on to them. So we risk Corona virus infection from physical contact with people, from being close to them (a meter or so) or from the droplets that infected people may leave behind on surfaces like handles. The infection is more commonly transmitted among close contacts and among those sharing a household. Corona virus is not in the general air around us, it has the be passed from droplets (people coughing close to us) or on our hands and other surfaces.
What are the symptoms ?
This is where it gets a bit complicated. Once in the body the virus can take a few days to grow before someone can then pass the infection on to another person. Everyone of any age (from babies to grandparents) can be infected. Once in, it normally takes about 3 days before there is enough virus for a test to detect it. In some people, even though they are carrying and spreading the virus, they may not be outwardly sick. This seems to be particularly common among children, many of whom will show little if any of the signs of infection . Many adults will show symptoms and somewhere between 5 and 14 days after the virus gets in they will start to feel unwell. Common symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat and/or breathing difficulties but can (more rarely) also include sore eyes and diarrhoea. These effects can be hard to distinguish from “normal” colds and flu. The image below shows the common symptoms among infected adults and how they differ from other common illnesses.
In people who have no underlying health conditions, they will tend to get better in about 2 weeks, they are then immune to Corona virus and no longer infectious. Young people can get seriously ill too, it just tends to happen much less commonly.
Sure it’s the same as the flu, isn’t it?
While Corona virus can appear to be similar to flu and is spread the same way, it is more worrisome for a number of reasons as outlined in image 4 below.
1. A person with corona virus tends to infect more people on average. This may reflect some people passing on infection without being sick.
2. The infection may take up to 2 weeks to show even though a person can be infectious over that time.
3. People who have health conditions are much more likely to need to be in hospital — putting a tremendous strain on busy hospitals and their staff.
4. The disease has a higher death rate. About 1 in 1,000 of those who get flu will die but between 10 and 30 people in a thousand who get corona virus will die.
There is a good visual summary here from Vox.com
Bear in mind that in an average winter season between 200 & 500 people in Ireland can die from flu and in a bad year over 100,000 of us can be infected. Taken together, these differences with Corna virus make it more worrisome especially for people with diseases like high blood pressure & cancer.
Remember also that flu and colds are still circulating as normal for this time of year but without a test we can’t tell who has what illness.
So what can we do/not do to protect ourselves and our families?
The image from the HSE shows the key facts
Some tips — for everyone
Firstly -Be nice, we’re all stressed at this time and a smile or a kind gesture reminds us that we are all in this together and we will get through.
Avoid ways of passing infection to other
1. Practice cough etiquette and cough/sneeze into your arm/elbow/a tissue to reduce the chances of spraying particles that could contain virus.
2. Practice personal/social distancing — this means avoiding getting within 1–2 meters of other people in public, no shaking hands, embracing.
3. Wash your hands regularly. Soap and water are really effective, Alcohol sanitiser is good too. Pay particular care to washing hands thoroughly immediately you enter your home or work, if you cough or sneeze into your hand, after using public transport, handling common public items (handrails petrol pump handles) or after dealing with the public/handling money in shops etc. This stops you passing infection as well as picking it up
4. If you have a fever, consider that you might be infectious and make contact with health authorities. Isolate yourself from other, especially the vulnerable
Protect yourself & loved ones around you.
1. Wash your hands, most especially immediately as you come into the home.
2. Clean common items and surfaces, like door handles, pushes etc.
3. Use the back of your hand/fingers for touching common buttons (eg lifts, traffic lights)
4. Practice Personal/social distancing
5. Avoid touching your eyes, nose (including picking of nose) or mouth
6. Don’t put items (eg pens, frames of glasses etc) into your mouth
7. International travel has significant risks of infection or becoming stranded
8. Be careful what information you listen to and send on social media. Spreading of rumours (even if they seem important, or details of “cures” etc can cause tremendous worry and harm) — Stick to reputable sources.
Specific extra cautions and advice for those being treated for cancer or with other worrisome health conditions or who are older
1. Again!! WASH YOUR HANDS
2. Be careful with visitors (friends or family) and ask them to call/message or video chat with you if they have even a sniffle or are in any way unwell. All visitors must wash their hands. Don’t shake hands with any visitors and remember personal distancing.
3. Show caution around children, children can sometimes carry the infection in a hidden way and small children (quite rightly!) will not understand social distancing
4. Do not travel abroad unless indicated by a cancer specialist for your ongoing cancer treatment.
5. Avoid public transport if you can –contact the Irish Cancer Society if you need help getting to cancer hospital appointments
6. Stay as active as you can, including walks in your garden or outside (while practising distancing). Find a home project to keep you hands and mind busy for example.
7. Call, message and stay in touch much more with friends and family. Our personal contacts are more important now than ever.
8. Do make contact with reputable websites, helplines and professionals if you have needs or worries, big or small. Maybe you need shopping or medicines delivered, maybe you’re worried about money or your treatment. There are thousands of people out there who value you and would love the chance to offer their help.
9. Think about taking a break from all the information, mute chat groups, maybe just catch the local news once a day — you’ll get all you need there and maybe life won’t seem as overwhelming.
Hope this was useful and stay safe
